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Weather & Water Quality

Healthy waters provide a home where fish and crab flourish, and a lively place where families enjoy themselves by fishing, canoeing/kayaking, and boating. The decline of water quality (due to excess nutrients, sediments and other pollutants) is one of the main issues affecting the waters and natural resources of the Chesapeake Bay including the Patuxent River. The Maryland Chesapeake Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve (CBNERR-MD) had monitored weather and water quality at Jug Bay since 1995.

By following national protocols, CBNERR-MD collects and provides national standardized data on weather and water quality. This data can then be used to determine trends, analyze environmental change, or to assess coastal management issues of regional or local concern such as poor water quality.

Sampling – Where?
CBNERR-MD permanently deployed a meteorological station at Jug Bay and three automated instruments or dataloggers (also called continuous monitoring stations – CONMONs) along the Patuxent River. All data from meteorological and CONMON stations is reported at 15 minute intervals.

Monitoring nutrients is important in the Chesapeake Bay region because of the positive relationship that exists between the amount of nutrients in the water and primary production and the development of algal blooms. This relationship is one of the primary drivers of water quality in the region.